Thermite welding is the welding process that incorporates the use of molten metal for the permanent connection between conductors. Thermite welding is heavily used to weld railway rails. The typical process of welding railway rails together involves the use of a crucible. Thermite with alloying metal is placed within the crucible. The rails are preheated using a standard oxygen/propane preheating burner and the thermite composition is ignited with a traditional barium nitrate igniter that allows the aluminothermic reaction to occur. Due to the thermite welding process needing a traditional ignition system, these igniters are shipped together with the other welding consumables. Shipping traditional igniters across country borders is a security/safety issue due to government regulations and HAZMAT classifications. There is an area of need for an ignition system for thermite rail welding which does not require a traditional igniter.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide an ignition system for thermite rail welding. The present invention includes a reaction starter mixture which is incorporated into the cap of a degradable crucible. Rather than using a traditional ignition system, a standard oxygen/propane preheating burner may be used to ignite the reaction starter mixture for the thermite welding process.